Hi all,
Sorry to hear about Bill Moramarco.  Please keep us posted John, my thought
and prayers are with him and his family.  If anyone is interested or just
really need to get a Rough Legged Hawk fix, there is an easy to find one
near the AB Miller High School in Fontana(Riverside County) with the added
bonus of it being a dark morph.  It's really a pretty bird.  It was there
two months ago when we went to a swap meet, and it was there again this
morning, flying around the same field across the street from the school
parking lot.  To get there take I-15 north to Baseline.  Go East to
Sierra(five miles or so).  Make a left and go to the first street on the
right, go to the stop sign and turn left to the school parking lot.  I
would think the best time to find it would be Saturday morning when there
isn't anyone around.  I don't know how rare they are around here, but it's
very interesting nonetheless.
Charity Hagen
czy4brds@...
Wildomar,CA Riverside County

Hi all,
Spent some time at Hidden Valley Wildlife Area near Norco this afternoon,
Riverside County.  The only rarity I found was the Gray Flycatcher in the
horse trailer parking lot, struck out on the longspur and macgillivrays
warbler, but the sight and sound of a couple thousand Canada Geese flying
directly overhead more than made up for it.  The geese were in the first
green field across the river when we arrived, they were flying overhead as
we were leaving a couple of hours later.  An interesting mammal sighting
were two racoons who were playing around in the cattails in the third pond
to the east seen from the wildlife overlook.  I thought it was wierd to see
them out in broad daylight.  There were also two Golden Eagles flying
around, and tons of Red tails, including one dark morph bird.  Here are the
rest of the birds I saw:

Pied Billed Grebe
Double Crested Cormorant
Black Crowned Night Heron
Great Egret
Great Blue Heron
Mallard
Gadwall
American Wigeon
Pintail
Shoveler
Cinnamon Teal
Canvasback
Ruddy Duck
Turkey Vulture
Northern Harrier
Kestrel
Coot
Bonapartes Gull
Ring Billed Gull
Rock Dove
Mourning Dove
White Throated Swift
Annas Hummingbird
Black Phoebe
Says Phoebe
Cassins Kingbird
Raven
Northern Rough Winged Swallow
Bushtit
Blue Gray Gnatcatcher
American Pipit
Common Yellowthroat
Song Sparrow
Savannah Sparrow
White Crowned Sparrow
Western Meadowlark
House Finch
Lesser Goldfinch
House Sparrow
Audubon's Warbler
Ruby Crowned Kinglet

Charity Hagen
Wildomar,CA Riverside County
czy4brds@...

In a message dated 1/8/00 10:53:00 AM Pacific Standard Time,
bob.miller@... writes:

<< If anyone has any information about Bill Moramarco's condition,  please
post and keep us up to date.   >>

Bob,

You and others have asked to be updated.  There is no good news as yet, I'm
afraid.  I got this message from Howard King this morning:

>>>>>I just talked with Bill's brother in law and things are not
encouraging.He's in a coma with a fractured skull and other
injuries.Apparently he rolled a truck down a 50 foot slope and was thrown
from the vehicle.Nobody actually saw what happened.At this point all they can
do is wait and hope for the best.Will send further news as I get it.
Howard<<<<<

Still hoping for the best,

John Green
Riverside, CA

Walter Lees asked me to post this for him.

John Green
Riverside, CA

In a message dated 1/7/00 8:21:08 AM Pacific Standard Time,
kestrel@... writes:

<< I no longer have time for managing the web site Inland Counties Birding
Atlas at:
  www.gg.klever.net/~birds
  now that I've moved out of the area.

  The web-site itself doesn't have a particularly good set-up and I never had
time to do it the way I wanted, but I tried to keep the
  event calendar and the archives of your newsletter up to date.

  The web site is located on a local ISP who donates the space for free and
with no qualifications or restraints. It comes with an
  e-mail account and cgi bin privileges. They've also talked about having
database privileges on their server.

  If anyone is interested, You could spend a little time or a lot.

  Otherwise the site will become dated and unmanaged.

  Contact Walter Lees at birds@... >>

Calbirders, Inland Birders, and RBA list,

     Many of you know Bill Moramarco.  I just got an e-mail message that he
was in a serious accident this morning.  Bill works in the Temecula wine
country, and he apparantly had his tractor roll over. Bill was thrown, and
has serious head injuries.  He was flown to Riverside County Regional Medical
Center.  I just spoke to his brother, and at this point Bill has had surgery
and we can only wait to see what will happen in the coming days.  He has not
regained consciousness.

     Bill is one of our best birders out here, and a good guy too.  Please
include him in your prayers or your best wishes.  He is in intensive care, so
visits and flowers are not allowed at this time.  Calls to the hospital are
routed through to his family in the waiting room, so it would probably be
best not to bother them at this time.  If you'd like to send a card, the
address is:

Riverside County Regional Medical Center
26520 Cactus Av.
Moreno Valley, CA   92555

Bill is currently in ICU, Room 41.

Hoping for the best,

John Green
Riverside, CA
bewickwren@...

I sneaked away from work today and found there are 2 Gray Flycatchers
at Hidden Valley.One is in the parking lot,the other was north of the
drainage ditch by the barns.Could not refind the McGillivray's Warbler
or the Lapland Longspur.

Doug:

No, those were no typos.  I used the term wrongly twice in the same paragraph. 
Steve
has made a valid point.  Now I recall this point was well made in my biology
lectures
years ago.

This was no petty argument.  And I agree with Steve's reminder.  But maybe both
San
Diego Birds and Inlandcountybirds should be "reply to sender only" by default
and not
"reply to all".

I suppose I could make petty remarks about messages that go over the several
birding
listserves that include "Joe and myself saw the Vermilion Flycatcher.", "The
Vermilion
Flycatcher kept returning to it's original location.", "The bird list sells for
.50
cents.", and "Our birding trip centered around San Diego County.", but I don't.

Just remember these messages go to everyone and are held in the archive for all
future
members to see.
--
Mike Feighner, Livermore, CA, pac_loon@... Douglas Aguillard wrote:

> At 09:42 PM 1/4/2000 -0800, you wrote:
> >Mike -
> >
> >"Specie" is not a word.  "Species" is a word and the plural form of
> >"specific epithet."  Unless you want to say "Imperial County is the only
> >county where I have not found this specific epithet," I would stick to
> >"species."
> >
> >Steve Rovell
> >vagrant@...
>
> Steve,
> Did you ever stop to think think that maybe it was a typo! Also who gives a
> rats' arse, about it. Quit being petty.
>
> Thank you,
> Douglas W. Aguillard
> San Diego, CA.
> doug@...
> www.basiclink.com/sdbirds
>
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At 09:42 PM 1/4/2000 -0800, you wrote:
>Mike -
>
>"Specie" is not a word.  "Species" is a word and the plural form of
>"specific epithet."  Unless you want to say "Imperial County is the only
>county where I have not found this specific epithet," I would stick to
>"species."
>
>Steve Rovell
>vagrant@...

Steve,
Did you ever stop to think think that maybe it was a typo! Also who gives a
rats' arse, about it. Quit being petty.

Thank you,
Douglas W. Aguillard
San Diego, CA.
doug@...
www.basiclink.com/sdbirds

Mike -

"I could not find any Dark-eyed Juncos.  Imperial County is the only
county where I have not found this specie."

"Specie" is not a word.  "Species" is a word and the plural form of
"specific epithet."  Unless you want to say "Imperial County is the only
county where I have not found this specific epithet," I would stick to
"species."

Steve Rovell
vagrant@...

Inland County Birders:

The past week I birded around Southern California and during this time
12-31-1999 thru 1-2-2000 I birded in Imperial and Riverside Counties.

Imperial County (12-31-1999)

Evergreen Cemetery in El Centro had two American Robins which I found as
I
drove in.  These quickly disappeared, and I could not relocate them or
find any others in all of Imperial County.  I have been seeking this
specie for several years in Imperial County, but persistence pays off.
I now have seen American Robin in all 58 counties.  I could not find any

Dark-eyed Juncos.  Imperial County is the only county where I have not
found this specie. I did find several Cedar Waxwings, a new county bird.

Unfortunately, I could not refind the reported American Redstart.

At the Whister Unit Headquarters I ran into Guy McCaskie where we found
a Red-naped X Red-breasted Sapsucker.  Although this sapsucker showed
more characteristics of a Red-naped rather than the Red-breasted, the
red did smear between the throat and nape causing us the call this bird
a likely hybrid.  One or more White-throated Swifts soared overhead.  A
sora foraged the reeds along trail.  By this time it was rather windy,
and we did not turn up either the Eastern Phoebe or American Redstart.

Guy was kind enough to point me to a couple good birds found on the
recent Christmas Bird Count:  a male Acorn Woodpecker (5th County
Record) and a male Scott's Oriole, both in Calipatria.  Despite the wind

I was able to track down both.  The male Acorn Woodpecker was on a
telephone pole along the alley between Lake and Park (between Date and
Church).  The male Scott's Oriole was at the (first) Little residence
along Lyerly Road at the west end of town.

At 4:30 PM there were at least 350 Sandhill Cranes along Harris Road
south of Brawley east of Highway 111.

Riverside County (1-1-2000)

While birding Riverside County I found out that San Jacinto Wildlife
Area is closed to non-hunters on Saturdays and Wednesdays.  The ranger
had forgot to hang out the proper sign.  So, it looked more like an open

refuge.  Before I was informed of the refuge's closure, I did find an
immature Zone-tailed Hawk flying to the east over Pond Number 4, and the

male Vermilion Flycatcher at the far east end of the tour route along
the trail that heads north from the handicap ramp between the two main
ponds.  This was near marker C1.  I haven't been able to make any sense
out of the numbering system.  I was  not able to locate the reported
Eastern Phoebe.

To get to the San Jacinto Wildlife Area is located in Riverside County,
take Interstate 215 to
Ramona Expressway east, then ten or so miles later make a left on Davis
Road.  The refuge is on the right.

Along Bridge Street east of the refuge I failed to track down the
reported Mountain Plovers.  The filed south of the road did contain a
number of Killdeer and Horned Larks though.

Hidden Valley Wildlife Area had several Geen-winged Teal, and Common
Ground-Doves are an easy find here along the mesa south of the ponds.
The MacGillivray's Warbler was still present at the south-west corner of

the horse-trailer parking area near a blue garbage can.

directions to Hidden Valley Wildlife Area:

From the 91 freeway in Riverside, take La Sierra Ave. north to its end
at Arlington.  Turn left and
continue to the wildlife area entrance on the right.

Desert Center/Lake Tamarisk Riverside County (1-2-2000)

There are now three Ross's Geese on the (north) lake in addition to
another male Vermilion Flycatcher.

--
Mike Feighner, Livermore, CA, pac_loon@...

Greetings Birders,

This is a rewrite (perhaps wasn't registered, since this is my first
posting).  In addition to a report on species found by me and my wife, Pat
Gordon, given to the Southeastern Calif. RBA this past vacation season (27
Dec.-3 Jan.) the following was found:

Glaucous Gull:  2 Jan.2000 - Located on earth spit in harbor of Headquarters
                               Campground,  Salton Sea State Recreation Area,
RIV
                             Co.
                                 NOTES: Picking on/at dead fish among the
zillions
                                 along the SS shore these days.  Of several
dozen
                                 gulls (Herring and Ring-billed mostly) it was
the
                                 only one feeding.  Large, light beige, with
the
                                 characteristic pale pink bill tipped (1/4 -
1/3) with
                                 black.  This would most likely be a 1st yr.
bird.

Also of more local interest (mine?) here were a Common Moorhen and a
Black-bellied Plover.  Also at Salt Creek mouth (SS RIV Co.) I saw Horned
Grebe and 12 Redheads and a flyby pr. of Lesser Scaup on 1 Jan.'00.

Phil Gordon
Hayward, ALA Co.
1(510)538-3550

Greetings Birders,

This note begins(almost) my entry into the cybirding realm - so please
forgive any loose use of format or content. Earlier I posted the
results of mine and my wife's, Pat's, sightings in the desert counties
from 27 Dec. to 2 Jan. 2000 to the S.E. California RBA. In addition was
a first year, light beige morph, Glaucous Gull seen at 8:30am on an
earth spit in the harbor of the Headquarters Campground of the Salton
Sea State Recreation Area, RIV Co.
It was the only one of several dozen other gulls that was picking on
one of the zillion fish carcasses lining SS these days. I assume this
locale is in between the two CBC's, and therefor not checked as
regularly as others spots. Of more personal interest perhaps was the
presence of Common Moorehen and Black-bellied Plover.  On the prior day
along with the reported Horned Grebe was about 12 Redheads and a pair
of flyby Lesser Scaup near the mouth of Salt Creek. It is still closed
with a lagoon, popular for bathing by a myriad of gulls which included
one Thayer's Gull. Pehaps someone knows more about the hybridization of
Canada X Snow Goose which we reported from Cibola on the S.E. Calif.
RBA - if so, I will hope for a comment.

Regards, Phil Gordon

Preliminary species total of 146.Highlights include Long-eared Owl(1st
count record),Short-eared Owl(1st count record)Tricolored Heron(2nd
count record)Hooded Oriole(2nd count record),Lewis's Woodpecker(3rd
count record)White-winged Dove(3rd count record)Also 4 Vermilion
Flycatchers and a White-winged Scoter.E-mail directly at
redhillbrd@... if you need directions
Cheers,Howard


I've got Wister on my fingers!!!

Preliminary total of 124 spp,with one party still to report.Highlights
included Lapland Longspur,Virginia's Warbler,Wilson's Warbler and Gray
Flycatcher at Hidden Valley Wildlife Area.At Rubidoux Nature Center
there was a
a Cassin's Vireo and another Gray Flycatcher.

Today,there were 17 Hooded Mergansers on the ag ponds.These are
accessed off of Canyon Crest, about .2 mi south of MLK Blvd.

Inland Birders,

This afternoon, 12/12/99, at SJWA, I saw both the Eastern Phoebe and the
male Vermillion Flycatcher. The VEFL was about 50 yards east of the "B
2" sign, which is along the trail going north from the wildlife viewing
area. The phoebe was between there and the parking area. At 4:20 pm I
saw a Short-eared Owl flying low over the area between the marshes and
Pond #3, to the south.

Good Birding,
Bill Moramarco

On a quick trip though San Jacinto valley today,I looked for and did
not see the reported Sprague's Pipit.At San Jacinto Wildlife Area the
Eastern Phoebe was on the trail splitting the ponds at the handicapped
ramp.There was an American Bittern in the pond to the left.On Bridge
St,there were at least 9 Mountain Plovers on the south side of the road.
Cheers,Howard

Sorry bout that.Hidden Valley is in Riverside/Norco along the Santa Ana
River.I'll try to make things clearer in the future.
Howard King

Mike,
No apology needed.  I should have included it in my post, sorry, I posted
it in a hurry.  I'll try to remember in the future.  To Mike and others,
San Jacinto Wildlife Area is located in Riverside County.  Or more
specifically, take Interstate 215 to Ramona Expressway east, then ten or so
miles later make a left on Davis Rd.
Charity Hagen
czy4brds@...
Wildomar,CA
Riverside County

At 09:27 PM 12/5/99 -0800, you wrote:
>Howard, Charity:
>
>I made the mistake just now of replying without checking to whom I was
>replying.  Most listserves let you reply to the sender by default and
>not the other way around.  I find replying to the group by default
>dangerous. Fortunately I made no too personal comments, but someone may
>have some in the future.  Earlier in the year Kurt Rudamker made the
>same mistake in founding his temporary CA-BIRDS listserve in which he
>quickly switched to to reply function to sender only as default.
>--
>Mike Feighner, Livermore, CA, pac_loon@...
>

czy4brds@... wrote:
>
> Hello all,
> Me and Cathi Tomsen birded the San Jacinto Wildlife Area this Sunday
> afternoon, December 5.  We saw 56 species.  We looked and couldn't find the
> Eastern Phoebe, and according to a conversation with Steve Sosenky, no one
> else found it today either.  Steve also said there are Long Eared Owls at
> the olive groves(the ones you have to hike to).  We did see two Short Eared
> Owls flying around at dusk at the wildlife overlook, along with the male
> and female Vermilion Flycatcher at the trail heading north from the far
> ponds, near the B2 sign.  Other highlights were Sage Sparrow, Burrowing
> Owl, and 9 species of raptors.  Did anyone on this list see the Spragues
> Pipit near Ramona Expressway?
> Charity Hagen
> czy4brds@...
> Wildomar,CA
>
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Charity:

If I hadn't read John Green's earlier reports, I wouldn't have known
where this is.  I happen to know it's in San Bernardino County, but
having never been there, I wouldn't know how to get there.  This new
listverve covers three counties.  So, I think it would be important to
include at least the name of the county in the e-mail.  I suggest the
same to Howard in his latest post.
--
Mike Feighner, Livermore, CA, pac_loon@...

Howard King wrote:
>
> Had 78 spp. this a.m.including a White-throated Sparrow.This was on the
> south side of the biggest pond at the west end.The Gray Flycatcher was
> at his usual spot at the west end of the equestrian parking.And the
> MacGilivray's Warbler,first found on Oct.was in brush near willows in
> the southeast corner of the parking lot.This bird chips about every 3rd
> day and is tough to find.Other birds of local interest were:Ferruginous
> Hawk,an adult Golden Eagle and 6-10 Wood Ducks.
>
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Howard:

I am new to the group, but inlandcountybirds is not much older.  This is
not the only birding listserve I subscribe to, but the usual rule is to
include which county or location the report is from.  I imagine this is
somewhere in San Bernardino County, the nation's largest county, but
that would be a guess.  Otherwise, I would just be guessing.  What ponds
are these?
--
Mike Feighner, Livermore, CA, pac_loon@...

Hello all,
Me and Cathi Tomsen birded the San Jacinto Wildlife Area this Sunday
afternoon, December 5.  We saw 56 species.  We looked and couldn't find the
Eastern Phoebe, and according to a conversation with Steve Sosenky, no one
else found it today either.  Steve also said there are Long Eared Owls at
the olive groves(the ones you have to hike to).  We did see two Short Eared
Owls flying around at dusk at the wildlife overlook, along with the male
and female Vermilion Flycatcher at the trail heading north from the far
ponds, near the B2 sign.  Other highlights were Sage Sparrow, Burrowing
Owl, and 9 species of raptors.  Did anyone on this list see the Spragues
Pipit near Ramona Expressway?
Charity Hagen
czy4brds@...
Wildomar,CA

Had 78 spp. this a.m.including a White-throated Sparrow.This was on the
south side of the biggest pond at the west end.The Gray Flycatcher was
at his usual spot at the west end of the equestrian parking.And the
MacGilivray's Warbler,first found on Oct.was in brush near willows in
the southeast corner of the parking lot.This bird chips about every 3rd
day and is tough to find.Other birds of local interest were:Ferruginous
Hawk,an adult Golden Eagle and 6-10 Wood Ducks.

Howard King wrote:
>
> 2 Harris's Hawks were present east of Indio Nov 27.Exit the 10 frwy.Go
> north to the frontage road(unsigned)Go west about a mile.The birds were
> first seen on fence posts.Later they hunted in mesquites etc...Seem to
> be wild birds.
> At Wister HQ there was a Nashville Warbler,Gray Flycatcher and
> Vermillion Fly.Another Vermilion was at Ramer Lake.The Painted Redstart
> in El Centro was looked for and missed.
>
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Howard--You forgot to say which (Dillon Rd.) exit for the HAHA's.--Bill

2 Harris's Hawks were present east of Indio Nov 27.Exit the 10 frwy.Go
north to the frontage road(unsigned)Go west about a mile.The birds were
first seen on fence posts.Later they hunted in mesquites etc...Seem to
be wild birds.
At Wister HQ there was a Nashville Warbler,Gray Flycatcher and
Vermillion Fly.Another Vermilion was at Ramer Lake.The Painted Redstart
in El Centro was looked for and missed.

Very windy there today.Did not see the Gray Flycatcher.There was one
Snow Goose in with the Canada,and an imm.Golden Eagle was at the east
end.

Hi,

This site should be used to report bird sightings in Riverside,San
Bernardino and Imerial Counties,and to discuss status and distribution
Cheers,
Howard King